In the Name of Service 

Last term I attended a workshop facilitated by Brother Damien Price on the power and potential of service learning, and how this can be facilitated in the school setting. 

“Service Learning is when, as part of its curriculum and culture, the members of a school community are invited to engage directly and indirectly in service experiences with the wider community. Through reflection upon their experience associated with the core values of the community, participants are challenged to evaluate or modify their worldview” (Brother Damian Price, Educators Guide to Service Learning, p. 4). 

Service-Learning experiences must have the student at the centre of its focus, and, by walking with the students in their experiences, community values and attitudes are integrated into their life experiences impacting the way in which they view the world.  

Service-Learning experiences can be both normative (smaller experiences woven into the culture and curriculum of the school) and heightened (those experiences that address specific values and concepts) with the effectiveness of the experience determined by quality reflection.  

By linking our actions to the culture and values of our school, reflecting on these experiences and connecting these to the Jesus story, the Catholic story is strengthened and becomes the lived experience of each and every student of St. Joseph’s School.